Hi my dad went to see a solicitor yesterday to change his will, while he was there the solicitor said he should have court of protection for my mum whom has alzheimer's. POA was never put in place before. Does he really need this he has been dealing with my mums affairs for the past 4/5 years without any problems. They have a joint bank account which I have read can be frozen but the bank would be unlikely to ever know about my mum having alzheimer's. She has some of her own accounts as well but at the moment non of this money is needed. I just feel that at the moment is seems a waste of money to get Court of protection. Any advice would be useful, its seems that most people who have Court of Protection are children over their parents not spouse. My dad is trying to protect their money in case my mum ever needs to go into care which is highly unlikely this is why he is changing his will.
Court of Protection
- Thread starter beckibee
- Start date
I would get the LPA done, it need only cost £110 (less if fee exemption or remission applies) plus the cost of a recorded delivery.
Nobody knows what the future will bring, you only have to skim through this board to find many people who, for various reasons, wish an LPA was in place.
If you mum looses capacity and the LPA is in force there is one less thing to worry about.
Problems with the joint account could arise in other ways than the bank suspecting that your mum has lost capacity and limiting access to the account. Your dad could have an accident/heart attack and be unable to operate the account, if at that time your mum could not operate it there would be no option other than to apply to the COP.
I would get your mum to grant an LPA to your dad with A N Other as replacement.
Similarly I would get your dad to grant an LPA either two people jointly and severally or to one person with a replacement attorney.
With an aging population and the resultant increase of degenerative diseases I think that for older people having an LPA is as important as having made a will. I also think that younger people should grant an LPA, anybody can have an accident and suffer brain damage at any time.
Nobody knows what the future will bring, you only have to skim through this board to find many people who, for various reasons, wish an LPA was in place.
If you mum looses capacity and the LPA is in force there is one less thing to worry about.
Problems with the joint account could arise in other ways than the bank suspecting that your mum has lost capacity and limiting access to the account. Your dad could have an accident/heart attack and be unable to operate the account, if at that time your mum could not operate it there would be no option other than to apply to the COP.
I would get your mum to grant an LPA to your dad with A N Other as replacement.
Similarly I would get your dad to grant an LPA either two people jointly and severally or to one person with a replacement attorney.
With an aging population and the resultant increase of degenerative diseases I think that for older people having an LPA is as important as having made a will. I also think that younger people should grant an LPA, anybody can have an accident and suffer brain damage at any time.
I'm not sure from what you've said as to whether your mum still has the necessary capacity to do an LPA. A diagnosis of Alzheimer's doesn't necessarily mean that she lacks capacity. If she does have capacity I would agree with nitram that she shoud do one as soon as possible. In any event your dad should also do an LPA. I'm 45 and did a Power of Attorney 6 years ago, as I might have a stroke or something similar tomorrow.
Whilst I think doing an LPA can save a lot of hassle in the future, and is worth doing even if it turns out you never actually need it, I wouldn't say the same about an application to the COP for Deputyship. I would be inclined to leave it until you need it.
Does your dad have a bank account in his sole name? I would suggest he looks at doing that and putting some funds in it in case the bank were to freeze the joint accounts. That way he could still access some money whilst he sorts out Deputyship for your mum.
Whilst I think doing an LPA can save a lot of hassle in the future, and is worth doing even if it turns out you never actually need it, I wouldn't say the same about an application to the COP for Deputyship. I would be inclined to leave it until you need it.
Does your dad have a bank account in his sole name? I would suggest he looks at doing that and putting some funds in it in case the bank were to freeze the joint accounts. That way he could still access some money whilst he sorts out Deputyship for your mum.
Hi the reason a court of protection has been mentioned is that my mum would be unable to do a LPA, she no longer has the understanding necessary to complete the forms. Thanks for your advice though, I just wish as a family we had thought about all this earlier on in her illness. There will never be any family disputes with money but just need to make things easy.
This isn't true at all. My husband and I also have a current joint account but I had to obtain Deputyship - from the CoP - to be able to deal with a number of matters to do with his care and payments.
Also your Dad's money will not be involved with any care for your mother. Any payments necessary will be based on your mother's capital alone. This is the reason for the need for Deputyship.
The CoP is reluctant to allow Deputyship for Health and Welfare as in LPA but I have found that having Deputyship has helped with that too, probably in respect of acting in the best interests of the person concerned, even though the Deputyship is only for legal and financial affairs.
